LilRaverBoi

Hey there banana brethren!

Bet a few of you remember me from the past. Sorry for the hiatus, but I've been very busy with finishing school and seeking employment. I recently graduated from optometry school (YAY), so now I've moved back to Iowa again.

Just some updates on my botanical endeavors.....battled spider mites all winter, as usual, but came out well.

Current tropicals planted in fertile Iowa soil:

Elephant Ears:
-Alocasia porteii
-Colocasia 'Jack's Giant'
-Alocasia 'Borneo Giant'
-Alocasia 'Jurassic Dark' (new)

Corpse Flowers:
-Pseudodracontium hermandii (coming up now, hopefully blooming again, 3rd year)
-Amorphophallus bulbifer (hasn't done much beyond basic sprouts...we'll see. 2nd year with this one, no blooms yet, but it's still small)

Misc:
-Travelers Tree (was doing super well last year, then was dormant all winter indoors, and now it's been repeatedly 'scraped' by something unknown (possibly deer) and is down to two leaves. Still not really growing
-Licuala grandis (I have a couple small plants....growing very slowly)

Bananas:
-Musa super dwarf cavendish (was close to blooming, then was broken off by something recently (deer?) but regrowing from the ground, nice color on leaves)
-Musa dwarf brazilian (still a little guy, but he survived winter spider mites and is now doing well, nice color on leaves)
-Musa ice cream (went dormant all winter even though it was indoors, had to cut it off to move, never grew back, entire p-stem died and it hasn't done anything yet.....pretty sure it's done for )
-Ensete ventricosum maurelii (new for this year...part of a planter with sweet potato vines. Hated my last maurelii, but decided to give it another chance (if it gives me any trouble this year, it's gonna be an 'annual' LOL))

Brand new bananas (arrived/planted today):
-Musa basjoo (attempting this one....maybe I'll try to overwinter it in Iowa...it manages in Missouri, so we will see how zone 5 treats it)
-Ensete glaucum (always wanted one....they're so beautiful)
-Ensete superbum (had one a couple yrs ago that unfortunately died when it was tiny....been looking for one for a while and found a healthy plant at a good price. Hopefully it will do well for me)
-Musa 'Praying Hands' (excited to have this one....3-4 foot sword sucker that looks very healthy thus far. Seems like a good parent/pup separation with some healthy roots....hopefully hot/dry conditions here aren't an issue.)

It's been super windy here recently as well as dry. Temps in the 70's/80's, so not too terribly hot, but not cool either. I really wish we'd get some decent rain; it's been weeks. Having to water things with the hose till that happens. I'm still trying to figure out what's happening to all my poor plants....I've had several 'vandalized' by nature recently. My best guess is deer....might be putting up some fences soon.

I'll try to get pictures of all of this some time. It's been too long!

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

Jsherman603

I know what you mean for a week it doesn't rain then when ever we turn on the sprinklers it rains. Also the wild cats completely ate my passion flower "Maypop".

kaczercat

Bryan, great to hear from you! I know It's been a long long time. I'm sorry to hear about some of your edible bananas. maybe put some hot pepper on top of the soil. will that keep them at bay? Those new bananas sound good! the Basjoo should do well for you and over wintering is no problem usually.

I just got a part time job since schools out, so I'll be kept busy. I can't wait for the pics. takecare

__________________
Matt

saltydad

Bryan, welcome back Doc! Glad to see your naner interests haven't flagged (little pun there).

__________________
Men In Nursing- "A Few Good Men"

"Gardening is the purest of human pleasures." - Francis Bacon





"If by a liberal, they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind; someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions; someone who cares about the welfare of the people, their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties; someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicion that grips us; that is what they meant by a liberal, I am proud to be a liberal."
John F. Kennedy, September, 1960


http://flickr.com/photos/saltydad/ and
http://community.webshots.com/user/saltydad
http://s751.photobucket.com/albums/xx151/saltydad/

Bananaman88

Good to hear from you again, Bryan. Good luck with growing in Iowa!

LilRaverBoi

Just a photo update...I'll be honest, nothing looks all that impressive at this point, but everything seems to be growing now after being transplanted. We're having a mild drought with 95+ temps recently, so things have been a bit tough for plants around here.

Elephant Ears:

-Alocasia porteii...looked rough for a while, but seems to be coming back well.


-Colocasia 'Jack's Giant'....growing fast and leaves getting larger every time.


-Alocasia 'Borneo Giant'...not what it once was, but it'll be big by fall.


-Alocasia 'Jurassic Dark' (new for this year)...doing well thus far. I love the dark foliage.

Corpse Flowers:

-Pseudodracontium hermandii...up now, finally! I was beginning to wonder since it had sat in the ground about a month without doing anything. It's bloomed the past two years, so it probably will again this year.


-Amorphophallus bulbifer...no bloom this year, but it's still pretty small. Should be able to develop a much larger corm this year since it's in the ground rather than a pot.

Misc:

-Travelers Tree...growing now, finally. I really feel like this one won't grow without hot/humid temperatures. It has never grown indoors over the winter. Looks like hell now after being chewed repeatedly (down to two leaves that are from last summer and are wind shredded). Hopefully I'll get this to come back strong by fall.

Bananas:

-Musa super dwarf cavendish....after getting broken off, it's come back strong and with plenty of color.


-Musa dwarf brazilian....growing well with nice red coloration.


-Ensete ventricosum maurelii...old pic when it was first planted. Growing nicely and everything in the planter has really filled out since this pic. No weird leaves or loss of coloration so far, so I can actually say that the second chance I've given this variety has proved successful thus far.

Brand new bananas:

-Musa basjoo....not much at this point, but it's growing and has done fine with the transplant.


-Ensete glaucum....wind broke off some leaves and it's just recovering from transplant, so it looks kinda crappy right now. Excited for this one, though.


-Ensete superbum....doing great so far. Super excited as this is one of my favorite types of ornamental bananas.


-Musa 'Praying Hands'...hasn't grown any since transplant, but it seems like it's recovering pretty well considering the current conditions here. Once the root system gets better developed, I'm sure it will spring into action.

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

LilRaverBoi

9-3-12 Just another update....Things have been really taking off. Too bad the growing season is coming to a close in about a month for us here in zone 5. Here are some pictures:

Elephant ears



Alocasia Borneo Giant



Colocasia 'Jacks Giant'...leaves getting pretty big, but still quite small compared to what this type is capable of.


Alocasia porteii


Alocasia plumbea 'Jurrasic Dark'

Other tropicals


Travelers Tree...getting chewed off this summer has really set this one back and although it's growing, very slowly and leaves are small compared to what they were last summer. Glad it's sorta recovering, but it's still heavily fortified to protect it from further damage.



Pseudocracontium hermandii...four stalks are up now and it's bloomed twice this summer. Has some seeds on there that hopefully will mature. Kind of a slow start, but it's done a lot this year.



Amorphophallus bulbifer...three stalks are on there now and another just coming up. Also starting to show more of the bulbifer traits like the bumps/warts on the petiole branches. I've read you can remove them and they will form new plants. Maybe I'll try it sometime.

Bananas



Super Dwarf Cavendish...doing quite well. To my surprise I found three pups on there today! It didn't have any the last time I watered it. You can see two in the pic and the last is behind the p-stem (you can just see a part of its little leaf on the R).


Basjoo...wasn't doing much of anything before, but it's finally springing up. Still tiny compared to the two others of the same size planted the same day.



Ensete superbum....doing great, nice fat bottom. Planted with basjoo, same date, same size.



Ensete glaucum...planted at the same time as basjoo and superbum, but is now much larger than either and is now the largest of all my bananas!


Dwarf Brazilian....coming along nicely.


Praying Hands...leaves are getting pretty big now.

And lastly, a view of behind the bananas. Beautiful Iowa

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

EuroBanana

Hi Brian,

Thanks for sharing these beautiful pictures !
I liked corn field too.
Iowa ? I've heard you have got the most tasteful (Mac Cain ?) potatoes there ! Do I mistake ?
Nice area !


Phil

__________________
Phil

In the ground outside :
- Dwarf Brazilian
- Tall orinoco
- Rajapuri
- Manzano
- Tall namwah aka "US-ice cream"
- Dwarf orinoco.

Waiting to be planted :
- Goldfinger
- Mysore
- Pisang mas
- "Figue family"
- Dwarf namwah.

Just for fun in pots :
- Basjoo
-Sikkimensis red tiger

john_ny

Idaho, not Iowa, is the state that is famous for it's potatoes.

__________________
John

LilRaverBoi

LOL yeah, we grow mostly corn and soybeans in Iowa. We are actually #1 for corn production in the US (~20% of US production and ~7% of the world production). Idaho is the potato state, not Iowa.....people do confuse that fairly often, though...even here in the states.

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

willy1der

Love the E.glaucum,I have 3 glaucum seeds that have sprouted this week,looking forward to them!!!

__________________

LilRaverBoi

Yeah, glaucum is one I've wanted for a few years now and finally took the plunge this summer. Thus far, I have to say I'm very impressed with the rapid growth and overall form.

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

EuroBanana

Sorry for having mixed Idaho and Iowa !
But......Giant green corn is even tastier than Mc Cain potatoes !

Phil

__________________
Phil

In the ground outside :
- Dwarf Brazilian
- Tall orinoco
- Rajapuri
- Manzano
- Tall namwah aka "US-ice cream"
- Dwarf orinoco.

Waiting to be planted :
- Goldfinger
- Mysore
- Pisang mas
- "Figue family"
- Dwarf namwah.

Just for fun in pots :
- Basjoo
-Sikkimensis red tiger

LilRaverBoi

NO worries! Like I said, it gets mixed up quite frequently. Plus I love potatoes....but I have to say, fresh Iowa sweet corn in the summer here is like a religious experience. But all the corn in that field, and 99% of the corn grown in Iowa is 'field corn' which is used for cereal, ethanol, corn syrup, animal feed, etc etc and is not very tasty off the cob.

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

LilRaverBoi

9-24-12 update! Now entering 'winter mode.'

So I dug everything up and moved them inside for the winter on Saturday since we were going to (and did) have a frost that night. Kinda sucks that we had that random frost cause this week's temps are all much warmer (highs in the 70's and lows in the upper 40's) Had to completely rearrange our living room to make it work. Right now they are in west and north facing windows....definitely not ideal, but that's all I have to work with. I plan to put some lights on them soon to make sure they get enough light. Now onto pictures (cause let's be honest....everyone likes pictures!)....

Overall living room pictures:




Non-bananas:

Travelers tree....still looks like crap, but it had a strong root system when I dug it up.


Alocasia plumbea 'Jurrasic Dark'....split off half of this for another member here. This is the larger piece. Notice the two (and soon to be three) blooms on there! I've never had any elephant ears bloom, so it's cool to see that.



Colocasia 'Jacks Giant'


Alocasia 'Borneo Giant'


Alocasia porteii....did quite well in the ground for its first time. Started the summer super rough-looking, so I'm glad it did so well. Had great roots when I transplanted it and even has a little baby!



Bananas:

Praying hands....looking quite nice...2 feet of pstem.


Ensete maurelii...grew slowly this summer, but it was pretty shaded where it was located (and also in a pot)...1.5 feet of pstem.


Basjoo....still quite small by comparison to the others planted at the same time/size. Also took the transplant somewhat poorly. I'm sure it will spring up next summer and should be ready for overwintering by fall...1 foot 2 inches of pstem.


Dwarf Brazilian...pretty solid growth this summer. Note small pup coming up in the back and coffee cup for size comparison...2 feet 3 inches of pstem.



Ensete superbum...about a foot of stocky pstem.



Super Dwarf Cavendish...considering it got broken off at the soil-line in mid-june, I'd say it grew pretty well. Now has three pups...2 feet 5 inches of pstem (best of 2012 award winner).



Ensete glaucum...did NOT take the transplant well. It's been super droopy since then and many of the leaves have dry/dead portions. I'm sure it will be fine, but might not look as nice as it did before I dug it up...2 feet 3 inches of pstem (best new variety award winner).



And one final note: I've never done this in the past, but I've removed the bottom leaves on pretty much all of the bananas. Every one of them had leaves all the way to the base, but I figured when I dug them up that I removed a large portion of their roots and therefore, should remove some of the leaves to help prevent shock/damage to the plants.

2012 has been a good year for my plants, despite drought conditions all summer. I'm sure next year I will have some massive plants. Definitely NOT looking forward to ubiquitous spider mites all winter.....the war begins again!

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

LilRaverBoi

Winter 'seems' as though it may be ending. Then again, I was camping in Missouri all last weekend and had below freezing temps there and some flurries (and it was cold/rainy otherwise....not exactly 'optimal' camping weather!).

I've got a garden started: onions, lettuce, radishes, arugula, kohlrabi and a few other things. Will be planting the bananas in the ground in a week or two (waiting just to be SURE conditions won't be too cold.

Moved 4 out of 6 bananas outside my garage door tonight. They're easily movable so if the forecasts look too cold, I'll move them into the garage and close the door. Basjoo and the travelers tree are casualties of overwintering Most things look kinda rough, but if I can get them more light/heat, I'm sure everything will pull through. Should be able to get some pretty nice things going this summer. Hopefully will have some monsters by fall.

Also, purchased a new corpse flower: Amorphophallus paeoniifolius. Corm is 6 inches and just under 2 lbs. Pretty excited to have another. The other two I have already (pseudodracontium hermandii and A. bulbifer) should be bigger and better this year again. Also, have a few off-shoots of both that should help increase the size of my stinky plant section LOL. Here's a pic of what the paeoniifolius bloom could look like in a few years:

Pretty excited about this one!

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

Zacarias

Love your pictures. We can really see how the whole process has gone for you via your pictures.
I also got into amorphophallus this year. I bought a flowering size bulbifer but the flower still hasn't come up; Yet is doesn't have root nubs. The bulb is firm and everything so we'll see what happens. I have three konjacs that are coming up that are will probably flower next year if they get big enough this year. I also have a small A. albus corm too. I love those things. Also have Arisaema and dracunculus.

Great pics!

LilRaverBoi

My bulbifer hasn't bloomed yet either, but it started off pretty small. A few more years and it probably will bloom. Oh....did you know that if you peel off the little lumps on the intersections on the leaves that you can plant them and grow a new bulbifer? I just grew a new one that I took off last fall when I dug it up....sprouted and now I have another tiny one! They multiply on their own, too....but the lump thing is a cool way to increase your numbers.

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

Zacarias

Yes I love the little bulbils that grow in between the leaflets. I am still hoping to get more amorphs this year so I have some flowers this coming winter/spring!

Zacarias

Oh I wanted to add, I just found out that Pseudodracontium species have all been moved to to the genus Amorphophallus officially.